Iris Rainer Dart

Iris Rainer Dart is a best-selling novelist of nine novels, notably Beaches, which was made into a film starring Bette Midler. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where her father was a social worker at the Irene Kaufman Settlement in the Hill District. Iris appeared as a child on the stage of the Curtaineers, the first inter-racial theater group at the Settlement house. She went on to attend classes at the Pittsburgh Playhouse from the time she was six, and was a child actress at both the Pittsburgh Playhouse and The White Barn Theater. Iris received her degree in theater from the drama department at Carnegie Mellon University, where she won the BMI awards for the libretto and lyrics she wrote for the varsity musical with composer Stephen Schwartz. After moving to Los Angeles, Iris was a member of the Columbia Pictures contract workshop. In the 70s, Producer George Schlatter hired her to be the first woman writer on "The Sonny and Cher Show." She went on to work in both situation comedy, and long-form television before she turned to writing novels. Iris was a Governor's appointee to the California Arts Council on which she served for eight years. She was also the commencement speaker at her alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University. It says in the Talmud that "A man is known by his laughter." Iris's own childhood, imbued with the humor of the Yiddish culture, was what inspired her to write The People in the Picture.